And joseph w



H. PETTIBO NE GL J. w. ROYER; PROCESS OF OXIDIZING AND DRY ING OIL CLOTH.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3. 1913- 1 1 76,982. Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

. tion. These steam pipes, unless the pressure is carried very high, produce only a moder- UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAWLEY PETTIBONE, OF NEW ROCHELLE,

NEW Yonx, AND JOSEPH w. Roma, or

PASSAIC, .NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO THE STANDARD OIL CLOTH COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 011 OHIO.

PROCESS OXIDIZING AND DRYING OIL-CLOTH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 3, 1913. Serial No. 765,349.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HAWLEY PET'rIBoNn, and JOSEPH W. 'RoYER, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at New Rochelle, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, and at Passaic, in the county of Passaic and State of N eW-Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Oxidizing and Drying Oil-Cloth, of which the following is a speclfication.

This invention relates to treating oil-cloth for imparting a harder, whiter and better finish to the coatings, and reducing the period or time of treatment.

In the manufacture of oil-cloth for table covers, wall covering, and other purposes,- the present vpractice is to apply tothe surface a number of coatings, composed principally of china-clay, water, linseed, or other drying oil and a light hydro-carbon, such as naphtha or gasolene, and then hang the coated cloth in folds or festoons in long, narrow closed chambers or cells, provided along the floor with a series of steam pipes or manifolds for efi'ecting the drying opera-' ate temperature of about 330 degreesF. in. the steam'pipe, but result in filling the cell with vapors of water and gasolene,an atmosphere almost devoid of oxygen, which is heavy, sluggish in movement, slow-in action and deficient in oxidizing and chemical ef-1 feet on. the oil in the coating. Certain slides are partially opened in' the top of the'cell,,- but owing to the heavy character of the vapors the escape thereof is slow, while the loss of heat is considerable, and the drying" operation for a cell=m11st extend through .a' period of five hours or more, so that "it is not practicable to make morethan two treat- .ments during the working hours of a da in each cell. The effect of the vaporous,

stlcky a co nparatively soft and unbleached surface on the coating, owing to the lack of oxy en with its hardening and whitening e ect upon the linseed oil in the coating. An attempt has been made to remedy these defects oxidizing .by adding a comparatively expensive ingredient,becton-white to the final coatmg of the cloth, so that the finished surface will be suinciently white. This adds an obectionable expense to the product and does not hasten or shorten the time required for Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

the drying operation, or aid in oxidizing the oil.

We have found that the expensive steam piping and expensive steam heat supply may be done away with and a much more effective chemical treatment produced-- with a saving of 80 per cent, or more, in time, by heating air to a comparatively high temperature, by --means of cheap producer gas or by-heat produced from other fuel and distributing the air through the treating cell containing the coated cloth. The hot dry air rapidly oxidizes the linseed or other drying oil containing linolein, forming a co herent film of linoxin on the coating, and resulting in bleaching and whitening the same and producing a hard, elastic surface.

The hot, expanded air has a great capacity for absorbin moisture and carrying it out of contact w th the coated cloth, so that the and drying operation can be performed 1n one to one and a half hours, instead of five, as. heretofore required on one class of goods, and two hours instead of twelve hours on another class ofgoods. In

this way, five treatments may be eflected in the usual working hours, in each cell, per

day, thus permitting continuous treatment 1n cells ;of proper dimension. In addition to reducing the time for dry .ing andtreating the coated cloth by eighty percent, and producing an improved article of manufacture, we also find that by making a producer gas from cheap fuel, we can heat air-to a temperature between 400 and 600 F., and with *it perform the treating operation above, described with a reduction of approximately fifty per cent. in the. cost of 'fuel. Thus, important economy is effected in time of treatment, and in cost of fuel; and an improved'article is produced.

The-object of our invention, therefore, is to treat coated oil-cloth in a hot, oxidizing,

constantly renewed atmosphere, to imparteffect a saving in the ess 1n connect'on w1th the accompanying top plan view 0 ing an duct drawings, in whichi Figure 1 represents a sectional-elevation of an air blower and heater and part of an oil-cloth treatin cell. Fig. 2 represents a the air blower and heater, partly in section, and part of a treating cell. Fig.3 represents a transverse section of the treating cell.

In carrying out our process we use a treatin chamber or cell A and an air-blowheating apparatus B. The cell A is constructed of brick or other suitable material, insulated on the sides, top and bottom with a good non-conductor vof heat, and may be made 108 feet long, by 8 feet wide, by 15 feet high, closed at one end, and having door a at the other end for admitting the folds of cloth. We preferably provide a single longitudinal inlet duct H, centrally at the bottom, and having in each side a series of slots or ports h, spaced about as shown throughout the length of the 'pipe, for discharging numerous streams of hot air outward so that such air may be passed or distributed at numerous points between the suspended folds X of coated cloth. At the top of the cell is placed a longitudinal outlet K, having in each side a series of slots or ports in, and extending out through one vas ' a damper a.

end of the stack of the cell and connecting withthe air-heating furnace, so that vapors may be discharged to the open air.

The air-blowing and heating apparatus B may be of a kind found in the'market, and is composed of a combustion chamber or furnace (Lhaving a stack 0, provided with A fan D, having a shaft and belt wheel (1 is driven by an electric, or other motor, E; having on its shaft a belt Wheel 6, from which is passed a belt 6' to the wheel d, for forcing air through the heater and r A four-section, tubular air heater 1s used, composed of groups or sections G, G Gr and G of tubes g, the I groups or sections being separated by par- I tition plates in a well known manner,.and

inclosed in the furnace C. The tubes may 7 be of cast iron, and are connected at their ends in transverse plates, and the groups or sections'are connected by theouter end fiues F and F Aflaring pipe F connects the air blower D with the upper front section G, and the air passes through the tubes g thereof, thence through i the tubes of the upper/ rear section G thence down through the tubes of the lower rear section folds X of coated oil-cloth,

for the last coating having been filled and G and thence through the tubes of the manner with the hot-air flue, so as to main-.

tain the air at a uniform temperature in the discharge flue or duct leading into the treating cell A. This is done by admitting more or less cold air into the outgoing heated air. The temperature of the air may also be maintained at a substantially uniform degree by controlling the flow of gas to the burner in the furnace, static device, or other means. 7

A blow-pipe burner M, having a gassupply pipe mand an air-supply pipe a may be effectively used for heating the air tube sec tions, and will in practice be connected to the furnace as shown. Producer gas, or mixture of producer'gas and water gas, wi preferably, be delivered at a uniform pressure to the burner. I

f Near the top of the cell, at each side is fixed either by a thermo to the outlet duct H, r the treating cell and a rail L, on which are conveyed in the usual I manner the cross-bars Z for receiving the and suspended transversely from top to bottom of the chamber so that the numerous streams of air from the ports 72. may be uniformly distributed between the folds and exert a uniform action on the coatings. The air is heated to a temperature between 400 and 600 F., and distributed in contactwith the coated material throughout the treating and drying operation.

The coating preparation is made by mix,- ing together, in suitable proportions, china .clay, water, a drying oil containing linolein, such as linseed oil or China oil, and alight hydro-carbon, as naphtha or gasolene. Other ingredients may be added, and becton-white may be mixed with the other ingredients. The

English I strips of cloth are coated in a well known manner and arranged in folds X on the spaced cross-bars l, s0' as to be traversed along the longitudinalirails L and. thereby fill the cell from end to end with suspended folds or'festoons of coated cloth. Thecell the door a closed hot air is admitted through the duct H and ports, k and distributed at numerous points through and between the folds of material. The hot, dry expanded air, having a great capacity'for absorbing and carrying moisture, passes up and out through the ports is and outlet duct K to the external air. 1

Though the air is heated to a temperature above 400 F., and at times to about 600 F the temperature in the treating cell, owing to the rapid evaporation and circulation, rarely exceeds 200 F., and in no way injures the oil-cloth, even though the high tempera appreciably whiter than the surface of goods subjected to steam heat in the ordinary way.

The oxidizing and drying operation is completed in one hour instead of five, required by the old method. The cell may therefore be filled, the cloth treated and removed, five times during the usual working hours of a day, effecting a saving of time, or an increase in production amounting approximately to 250 per cent. In other words the process may be made practically continuous. The surface of the treated cloth is entirely free from tackiness, has a hard, coherent protecting surface film, and the goods can be rapidly handled on removal from the cell. We have found that there is especial efficacy in having the oxygen of the air at a high temperature and free as possible from moisture in order that it may act quickly to oxidize the linolein in the oil. We have demonstrated that by this method of using hot air the expense for fuel may be reduced fully one-half as compared with the general method of applying steam heat in coils or manifolds of pipe for heating the cells.

In this process it has been found of the utmost importance that the hot air be distributed with perfect uniformity at numerous points between each pair of pendant folds of cloth and discharged in the same manner through numerous ports substan tially opposite the inlet ports, in order to obtain uniform and satisfactory results, in oxidizing and drying the surface of coatings, and to prevent the sticky surfaces from adhering together. There must be no agitating devices in the cell, and no obstruction to cause extra or irregular currents. The hot air is not discharged from inlet ports It in strong, irregular currents, but gently and uniformly, so as .not to agitate the pendant folds of oil cloth.

Having described our invention, what We claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

1. The process of treating and oxidizing oil cloth, having a coating containing linolein, which consists in continuously passing in contact with the coated cloth in a chamber a large volume of fresh oxidizing fluid supplied ata temperature above 300 F. so as to maintain a substantially uniform temperature of about 200 F. in the chamber,

thereby changing the linolein to linoxin and imparting a whiter, more elastic and better finish to the coating. 2. The process of oxidizing and dry ng oil cloth, having a coating containing a drying or oxidizing oil and hung in separate folds or festoons in a chamber, which consists in continuously distributing between and in contact with the folds a large volume of air supplied at a temperature between 400 and 600 F., for rapidly oxidizing the oil and forming linoxin with a surface possessing increased hardness, elasticity and whiteness.

3. In the manufacture of oil cloth, having a coating containing linseed oil, the method of treating and drying the same to give it a better surface finish, which consists in rapidly oxidizing the oil to form linoxin by distributing, in contact with the coated cloth, in a chamber, dry air supplied at a temperature between 4:00 and 600 F., so as to maintain a temperature in the chamber of approximately 200 F. whereby the surface is made harder, and the period of drying is much reduced as compared with the presentmethod of treatment.

4. The process .of treating oil-cloth, having a coating containing a drying or oxidizing oil, which consists in heating air to a temperature between 400 and 600 F. and continuously distributing the air at a substantially uniform temperature between and in contact with folds of the cloth in a chamher for constantly bringing fresh oxygen ing a coating containing a drying oil, which consists in distributing hot air between folds of the cloth in a chamber, for constantly bringing fresh oxygen in contact with the surface, and constantly drawing off or dischargingthe resulting moist or vapor laden air, thereby expediting the oxidizing and drying operation and imparting a better finish to the goods.

6. The process of treating oil-cloth, hav-- ing a coating containing a drying oil. which consists in distributing hot air at numerous points between folds of the cloth in a chamber, for constantly bringing fresh hot oxygen in contact with the surface, and continuously discharging the resulting moist or vapor laden air at points substantially opposite the inflowing air, for expediting the operation and producing a uniform quality of goods.

7. The process of treating oxidizing and drying oil-cloth, having a coating containing a drying oil, which consists in heating air to a substantially uniform temperature, between 400 and 600 F., distributing the hot air in large volume 'atnumerouspoints between folds of the 010th and in contact Ill testimony whereof we afiix our signawith its coated surface in a chamber for. tures in presence, of two witnesses. removlng moisture and rapidly oxidlzmg HAWLEY PETTIBONE. the lmolem contained. 1n the coating and continuously drawing ofi or dischai'ging JOSEPH ROYER' the moisture-1aden air, thereby expediting Witnesses: the operation and imparting to the coating HENRY SHELT N,

a herd, coherent-film of linoxin. W. R. FUILER. 

